They rode along in the desert sunlight in near silence, Thunderchild rode slowly ahead on Shamara while Domino stayed further back with Nagy and Beowolf flanking her, Proeliator brought up the rearguard with Zidane and Mikoto.

Finally Nagy broke the silence by looking over to Domino and saying

"Do you think he's alright…you know…mentally?"

Domino peered at Nagy and shrugged

"I think so…but it's hard to tell…he's so determined now, I certainly wouldn't want to be in Jara's shoes when he catches up with her."

Beowolf chuckled and smiled

"He's changed a lot, I'll give him that but I don't think he's crazy…maybe a little unhinged but no more than the rest of us."

There was another silence which dragged on for a time, Domino took that time to reflect on the events which had led up to this ride across the morning desert, the trials and tribulations she had come through…this time she wasn't alone.

I've been alone for all this time, it's never bothered me before she thought but now suddenly I never want to be alone again.

Thunderchild rode on ahead in silence, constantly scanning the horizon for trouble, since seeing the destruction of Kitrit he had been expecting an attack from Jara.

What he wasn't expecting was another vision.

As the world spun around him, he slumped forward and gently fell sideways off the back of Shamara who promptly stopped and turned around to see what had happened to her master.

"Thunderchild!" yelled Domino as she sprung off her horse, but her husband was gone to wherever he went during his visions and there was no way she could bring him back until he came back himself.

"Now what?" he muttered, scanning the sandy horizon with one hand shielding him from the sun.

Something made him turn around, some strange feeling which raised the hairs on the back of his neck and as he slowly swung around he saw exactly why.

A large army stood behind him, made up of some genomes, some black mages but mainly monsters from both the Discworld and Gaia, and far at the back of this army he could see her, the woman who had started all of this…Jara.

"Well this is all very good," he said "But why am I seeing it?"

"Behold…my strength Yissan, you are foolish to attempt to attack me alone."

He saw movement out the corner of my eye, turning he saw himself, Proeliator, Domino, Beowolf and Nagy come charging forward towards the army. Despite using heavy magic and blasting the ranks of the army with fire, they were quickly overwhelmed and killed slowly and brutally.

"So…you have an army then Jara, I expected nothing less." He muttered

"Mother is more powerful than you could imagine Yissan." Said the voice of Funaho although he could not see her in the vision.

"Sister!" he asked with a shocked expression on his face.

"Sister! She's your sister…!" came Jaras amazed voice.

The ground underneath him collapsed as he came out of his vision and found himself lying on the desert sand with the concerned faces of Domino and Nagy looking down at him.

"You alright Thu?" asked Nagy

He nodded, slowly and unsteadily but firmly as he pushed himself up to get a closer look at his surroundings.

"How long was I out?" he asked

"About half an hour." Came the reply

His eyebrows shot up.

"Half an hour! Whoa, that's some time."

Domino put her arm around him and helped him up, as he stood up he took note of Proeliator, Zidane and Mikoto sitting by their horses.

"Pro…I'm going to need you to look after our genomes until I get back."

Domino backed off slightly and looked worried

"Get back! Where from!"

Thunderchild patted her on the shoulder and gave her a warm smile.

"I've just got to talk to some people and I'll get back to you. Proeliator has a copy of the map to my ship, just stay with him and you'll be fine."

"I want to come with you!"

He shook his head firmly.

"No, not this time Domino."

"Please…don't leave me alone." She whispered to him

"Don't worry, I won't be gone long."

And planting a brief kiss on her he leapt onto the back of Shamara and rode off, closely followed by Nagy and Beowolf who had mounted their steeds a moment before.

Dominos mind twisted and turned in silence as she rode along with Proeliator, Zidane and Mikoto, the horse underneath her seemed to cope well with the desert sand which looked far too unstable for her liking.

Why he is being so distant? Doesn't he realise we're in this altogether? She wondered

The sun beat down on her, on all of them but still they rode on.

What is Thunderchild up to? Wondered Proeliator Doesn't he trust me or something?

Zidane and Mikoto were busy wondering about their future, whether they would ever return home from this adventure intact, Domino was thinking the same thing but she didn't care as long as she was with Thunderchild.

"We should reach the ship by nightfall." Said Proeliator, breaking the silence they had been riding along in.

"Good, this heat is starting to get to me." Muttered Zidane

Domino shrugged, the phoenix part of her gave her a higher protection against the heat, although it did leave her vulnerable to cold. She hoped they'd find some cover before nightfall, she knew how cold it would get at night in the desert wastelands.

They were so deep in thought that only Proeliator noticed the shaking of the sand beneath them, he stopped looking around him and focused on the sand, it was definitely moving.

"Hang on a…"

There was a large explosion in front of them, throwing volumes of sand up into the air, the horses immediately bolted but Domino and Proeliator regained control and wheeled around to find themselves face to face with a large army.

"Jara." Hissed Domino

"There's loads of them, hundreds maybe…we can't take them all." Muttered Proeliator to her.

"I could try distracting them…"

He shook his head

"It's not worth getting us all killed. Besides Thunderchild would skin me alive if anything happened to you."

Domino shot him a look which indicated she had decided something.

"Get Zidane and Mikoto home Proeliator, and tell Thunderchild I loved him."

"No Domino!" Proeliator called but it was too late, she had galloped off towards the waiting army.

"What is she doing?" whispered Zidane in horror

"Buying us some time, lets get out of here." Said Proeliator as he guided his horse past Zidane and Mikoto's, grabbing the reins of their horse as he passed.

Domino rode closer to the army, her heart pounding as she got closer.

Will she just kill me or will she want me as her slave? She wondered

She held her head high, defiant and unrepentant, she knew her life was now measured in minutes and she would go with only one regret…that she could never tell Thunderchild just how much she loved him and wished he'd trusted her.

She came within five yards of the army and stopped, the first wave of black mages stared at her, their small yellow eyes analysing her, scanning her. She felt naked, alone and vulnerable in front of such a force.

So…you come crawling back to me. said a female voice in her head.

I give myself freely to you Jara, let the others go.

She could see Jara at the back of the army, on top of a black coloured horse, by her side on a grey horse was Thunderchild's sister Funaho.

I thought she had given up on Jara? Wondered Domino

Maybe I shall, maybe I shan't…in any way, what position are you in to dictate what I do genome?

Domino took a deep breath, she was ready for this, the big gamble…if it worked she could save the others, if it failed they would all wind up dead.

I can help you with my powers…surely my powers alone make me worthy of you?

There was a pause, the wind whistled gently past Domino making her feel even more alone, where was her husband now…now when she really needed him. She thought he would be the one to save her, he wouldn't let any harm come to her…but now, on the verge of her possible death, he was nowhere to be seen.

Looks like I will die alone after all… she thought

Perhaps you are a valuable asset genome…you will give yourself and your powers freely to me?

Domino gulped, what was she doing? Giving herself to their enemy to save three people…but…what was it Yissan had said to her once, before he had left to fight the Borg.

The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few…or the one.

It had to make sense somehow.

As long as you let the others go. she replied

She could hear a strange sound over the noise of rustling soldiers and crackling energy charges being prepared in the army. It was the sound of laughter, Jara's laughter.

This is just excellent genome…then I accept your offer…perhaps your cries for mercy will bring your beloved husband running so I can destroy him too.

Domino wanted to run away, wanted to hide away from the gaze of Jara's army, of Jara herself but she couldn't, she knew that she had committed now, if she backed out then she would place the lives of her friends in forfeit, and that was something she wasn't prepared to do.

Come forward Mithril Yugami, and join my side where you belong. You may not be worthy of my trust but… Jara's gloating voice suddenly cut off in horror, Domino quickly sensed a change of mood in the army, one of surprise emerged suddenly.

Huh? She thought, turning slowly around to see what had caused the change of mood.

Behind her silhouetted against the setting sun stood a lone horse and rider. She knew immediately who it was and her heart leapt for joy, she quickly turned her horse around and rode towards him.

My love, you didn't leave me! She thought

As she rode towards him she wondered just how he hoped to take on Jara's army by himself.

Perhaps he's going to use his Ultima trance attacks? She thought, but then she realised Thunderchild had something a little more conventional in mind.

He raised his sword up on high and yelled out one word which Domino had come to associate with his other side, the side that emerged in battle or in highly emotional situations.

"ULLLAAAAA!" he yelled, but this time the shout was answered, the reply echoed across the sand dunes around her as she realised that her husband wasn't alone.

"ULLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Hundreds of marching men appeared either side of Thunderchild, their helmets glinting in the desert sun, in front of them rode dozens of heavy horse riders, their lances angled in front of them, they marched forward until they lined the sand dunes either side of Thunderchild and then stopped.

As Domino rode closer she could hear him shouting to them, rallying them forward to battle.

"Today determines the fate of this planet, today we will all live in freedom, or today we will all die, there is no going back…there is only one outcome."

He pointed his sword towards the opposing army and smiled evilly, Domino was slightly worried, she had never seen such an expression on her husband before, perhaps there was more to him than she realised.

"We must stop Jara, stop her here and stop her now…This ends here…here and no further!" he yelled.

Thunderchild then brought his sword back up into the air and continued to speak.

"I know you can do this…I know we can do this….WE CAN DO THIS!"

Slowly he swung his sword forward and yelled one single word which sprung the whole force into action.

"CHAAARGE!"

He came galloping down in the lead of the first attack wave, Shamara running flat out and Thunderchild crouching low in his saddle, Draconus in his right hand ready to strike.

Stay out of the way of this Domino, I don't want you to get hurt. he thought to her as he passed at high speed, Domino quickly decided her next move, she turned around and followed him into battle.

DOMINO! What are you doing?

You're not the only one who gets to be the hero around here, besides what could I do without you! she replied

Behind them Domino could see the foot soldiers in the army running forward, carrying their shields in front of them and holding their swords high in the air.

They hit the first row of Mages like a sledgehammer, the force of the sudden halt nearly threw Thunderchild from his saddle, he swung Draconus down and stabbed the mages swarming around Shamara, there was nothing he could do now to avoid killing them, it was either him or them. For each mage he cut down he offered a silent apology to all those mages at Black Mage Village who had trusted him not to betray them.

Past the rank of Mages were the monsters, the first wave of which included the venerable Mistodons. A rush of acid missed Thunderchild by a whisker and smashed into the rider behind him, over the clashing swords and blasts of energy he briefly heard a scream of agony and a shortened squeal of the horse as both beast and rider went down under the acid.

Thunderchild cursed and stood upright on Shamaras back, holding his sword tightly he somersaulted backwards off the horse and ran at the Mistodon, jumping on the back of the monster and slashing at its head. The Mistodon roared and tried to shake Thunderchild off but he hung on firmly, stabbing at the beast with any chance he got.

Meanwhile Domino had jumped off her horse, preferring the freedom of her own two feet but despite that mobility she was still tangled up within the first wave of Black Mages using wave after wave of Firaga and Blizzaga to take down any mage which came near her but there were too many for her to deal with all at once.

Suddenly a knight in armour charged in on horseback and smashed his way through the mages surrounding her and cleared a way for her to follow Thunderchild, as she looked up at the mystery man, he lifted up the visor on his full face helmet and smiled at her, it was Nagy!

Domino took the opportunity Nagy had presented her and ran forward to her where her husband was battling with the Mistodon

"Thunderchild! Hang on!" she yelled

"What do you think I'm doing!" he yelled back with a slight smile on his face.

Once she came within range of the beast she rolled under an attack it aimed at her, and flung a fireball at it in return. She jumped and did a backwards somersault as the Mistodon took another swipe at her, as she fell back towards the ground she drew her katana (which she had not long purchased in Ankh-Morpork) and slashed out at the monster as she landed back on her feet.

The Mistodon let out a guttural roar and collapsed to the ground, throwing Thunderchild off its back as it fell. Domino jumped over the corpse and joined her husband on the other side.

"Nice fighting." He remarked as he decapitated a Magic Vice

"I'm not just a pretty face remember?" she said in return.

Thunderchild saw that the Morporkian infantry had joined the battle now but were being outflanked by the Black Mages on their right flank. Beating another Magic Vice around the head with Draconus he put two fingers into his mouth and whistled piercingly, above the noise of the battle raging around them Domino heard Shamara whinny in reply and saw her come galloping through the hordes towards them, leaping over littered bodies and broken weapons. She slowed to a halt beside Thunderchild and he quickly climbed on.

"Come on!" he shouted, as Domino ran forward and jumped onto Shamaras back.

They rode through the crowds, Thunderchild catching a glimpse of Nagy smashing his way into the middle area of the army, leading the cavalry forward, but Thunderchild could see trouble, the Infantry were becoming bogged down and the Cavalry were leaving them behind, soon the Cavalry would get stuck and it wouldn't have the support of the Infantry to push through.

"We're starting to get bogged down!" he shouted to Domino

She nodded, she could see it too.

"The Infantry needs a new push forward…"

Thunderchild turned and looked at her incredulously.

"Err…yeah, we need to help the archers break through the wall of Black Mages, then the Infantry can push forward."

"But won't we hit our own men with the arrows?"

Thunderchild nodded, she was right but he was one step further.

"Not if they're actually with the infantry."

Domino whistled gently, she saw what he was planning.

"That's a bit risky love, the archers can't defend themselves against close range attack!"

Thunderchild turned around and looked at her again as Shamara jumped over some Jabberwocks.

"Since when did you become a tactician?" he asked her

She smiled and tapped the side of her head.

"Programmed into me remember…Killing machines? You can't outwit someone if you haven't got the brains for it."

Thunderchild smiled and chuckled gently as they arrived at the far edge of the battle, a few infantry saluted him as he rode up, he waved a hand at them to stop them, they had bigger things to concentrate on.

"Where're the archers!" he yelled

A foot soldier in full armour approached and pointed towards where the Black Mages were pushing through.

"Over there, why do you think the Mages pushed through so easily!"

Thunderchild groaned, the battle had obviously began to break down already, the archers shouldn't have been so close to the front lines, but maybe there was a way to salvage the situation.

He nodded a thanks and pushed Shamara into a full gallop towards the archers, when he arrived he leapt off the side of Shamara and ran towards the nearest archer.

"You! Quick, form two ranks one in front of another with as many men as you can get…NOW!"

Around forty of the archers came to join Thunderchild, so they formed two ranks of twenty men each. In front of them some of the infantry shielded the archers from Mage fire but they were weakening.

"Ok, front rank you will be called Rank One! Rear rank, you will be called Rank Two…listen very carefully to my orders!" shouted Thunderchild, Domino stood next to him, unsure as to what her husband could be planning.

Hope to the Gods this works. he thought to her before ordering:

"Infantry break ranks and retreat to behind the archers!"

The infantry men immediately broke off their defence and ran behind them, released the Black Mages surged forward.

"Rank One fire!"

Twenty arrows shot out and cut the first rank of Mages down, but more mages stumbled over their fallen comrades and continued towards them, their unified chant of "KILL, KILL!" echoing around them, only broken by Thunderchild's continued orders.

"Rank One crouch and reload, Rank Two advance!"

As the first archers crouched down to get the arrows from their quivers and load them into their bows, the second rank of archers marched forward in front of the first and pulled the string on their arrows back, aiming and ready.

"Rank Two…FIRE!"

Another load of Black Mages fell down with arrows protruding from their bodies, there were more coming but not as many as before…it looked like the tide might be beginning to turn.

"Rank Two, crouch and reload, Rank One advance!"

The first rank of archers stood up and moved forward, past the second rank which was now reloading.

"Rank One…FIRE!"

Domino began to see the tactic her husband was using, and she was very impressed by the thinking behind it. Summoning her power she cast a wave of Firaga on the Black Mages, wincing slightly as they fell, knowing that her kind and the Black Mages had an awful lot in common.

"Looks like we're making a difference!" shouted someone from behind them, Domino turned to see Proeliator standing behind them.

"Where's Zidane and Mikoto!" she asked

Proeliator jerked a thumb back to the sand dunes from where Thunderchild had first emerged.

"Over there…they're safe and sound."

Thunderchild turned around and saw Proeliator, with a smile he ordered another volley of arrows and then beckoned Proeliator over.

"You understand what we're doing here?" he asked

Proeliator nodded

"Can you keep this up for me? I need to organise a push forward with the infantry to meet the cavalry."

Proeliator smiled and saluted Thunderchild.

"No worries, I'll keep this lot going for you!" he cried as Thunderchild jumped on Shamara and waited only for Domino to join him before riding back to the centre of the battle.

"Babe, if you can't push the infantry forward then…"

Thunderchild cut her short, completing her sentence.

"We're all dead…I know, I'm taking a big gamble here but there's nothing else I can do…even the cavalry is beginning to get bogged down now…look!"

Thunderchild pointed towards the rear of Jara's army, sure enough Domino could see the cavalry in desperate combat with the army of genomes and larger monsters which had been gathered there.

"We're running out of time…" he muttered, turning back to face her he suddenly saw something high up in the sky, shielding his eyes against the golden sunlight he broke into a large smile as he saw more clearly what he was looking for.

"It's about time they turned up…" he said with a smile.